a dose of coffee
by SerpentineShadows
Summary: Café AU (sort of). Heejung doesn't see what's so great about the new café. Jiwoo doesn't see why Heejung's acting the way she does.
1. Intro

**A/N:** So, I've only watched some Youtubers play this game. And since they've only played Jiwoo's route so far, I present to you some Jiwoo/Heejung.

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"Heejung, you have to come to this café with us. It's amazing," one of her classmates gushes, tugging on her sleeve.

The other girls around them squeal in sync, all of them talking at once. From the snippets she catches, Heejung gathers that a recently-opened café called "The Bunny Café," which to Heejung is a really unoriginal name, that started in America has become popular because of "the super-cute waiter" that looks so grumpy all the time that they "just want to squish his cheeks."

Heejung's unsure of the logic in that, and she finds herself reluctant to abandon her regular café just because of a waiter.

In the end, she gets dragged to the, frankly, disappointing café. Heejung doesn't know what she'd expected—maybe someplace luxurious that offered insanely low prices for incredible coffee, _something_ that could explain the hype behind the place—but this place isn't it. Heejung convinces herself that just because the place doesn't look special, it doesn't mean she should dismiss the service or the coffee.

Heejung looks at the prices, and they're similar to those of the café she frequents; in fact, the choices are practically the same. As her classmates order, Heejung picks a random one and goes to sit at a booth in the corner. Heejung's classmates are looking around at all the waiters and cashiers, reminding Heejung of the obsessed wife she saw on the soap opera channel the other day.

Eventually, her classmates calm down and move to find seats. They still chatter among themselves and stare at the waiters in an invasive manner, but at least they're not blocking other customers. Heejung looks around more and finds that most of the customers are female. It's even weirder for her to realize that a lot of them are acting the way her classmates are. This realization alarms Heejung a little, and she thinks she prefers her usual café over this one, especially since it's not occupied by teenage girls and even some full-grown woman acting crazy.

"Here's your order, miss," a waitress says, placing a cup onto the table.

Heejung crosses off service from her mental list. There's only one thing left to redeem this place: the coffee. Heejung takes a sip, expecting something that will amaze her, but she's disappointed yet again. At least the employees' outfits seem somewhat unique, Heejung decides. Most of them sport bunny ears and tails to go with the name of the café, and it's a bit weird but kind of cute too.

Heejung ends up spending the afternoon sipping coffee and observing the women in the café. It's really quite boring, and Heejung decides her usual place is much, much better.

It sounds a bit mean when she thinks about it, but it becomes more interesting in the café when the waiter doesn't show for work. Several customers—ones who'd refilled their drinks so many times Heejung lost count—approach the other employees and demand to know where he is. Heejung's unimpressed by the waiter for lacking the determination to consistently show up to work when there are others out there, like her, who work hard everyday.

Even so, Heejung guesses it doesn't hurt to admit that she's interested in the waiter who's able to capture the attention of so many women.


	2. Unsavory First Impressions

**A/N:** Thanks for reviewing, **Guest**, and yeah, I actually do catch your drift. Thanks for reviewing, too, **es,** and also thanks to **anonymous** for pointing out the weird issues with this chapter.

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Heejung's wondering whether or not she should blame her classmates or her own curiosity for her current situation. Sipping coffee while eyeing the employees is nowhere near a productive way of spending her time. The past few hours could've been spent studying, which to be honest she hates, or maybe drawing. Well, nothing really forbids Heejung from drawing in her sketchbook at a café. Actually, it probably makes her seem less creepy, less like the other women that have flocked here to stalk the mystery waiter.

Within moments of taking out her sketchbook, Heejung's forgotten why she'd come to this café. She becomes engrossed in sketching the scene before her: a customer walking up to the register; several others in the background, cups in hand; a girl, throwing her head back as she laughs. Heejung takes care to make sure every detail's perfect, from the twinkle in the laughing girl's eyes to the bored look the cashier sports.

Time ticks by, and some customers come while others go. Heejung remains oblivious to her surroundings, humming while she draws. It's a miracle that she can stay focused, even when the chattering around her increases in volume.

"Isn't he just so _cute_?" a voice squeals from the table next to Heejung's. She hears it, of course, but the words don't register. Heejung's trying to perfect the calming atmosphere the café emanates during the moment she's captured, and it's a bit difficult with the limited colors she has.

Heejung's startled from her task when a plate is pushed onto her table, bumping her arm. A little annoyed, Heejung drops her pencil and turns to face the employee. "Excuse me, but I didn't order this," she says, gesturing to the stack of pancakes.

Heejung looks back at the waiter and finds herself looking closer at him. He's not..._unattractive_. His blond hair looks a bit like it's been messed up on purpose, and his green eyes are dazzling...and his lips look kind of soft. They'd probably feel nice and velvety against hers—

"It's on the house," the man—Jiwoo, according to his name tag—says as he smiles. And, Heejung thinks, his smile's kind of dazzling, too. It's a bit unfair that he's so not-unattractive. "Or rather, I'm buying it for you," he continues.

That snaps Heejung out of her reverie. She starts to notice that a lot of the women are sighing dreamily in her direction. Obviously, it's not _her_ that's causing them to react this way, so it must be Jiwoo. Someone's words from earlier come back to her: _"There's this waiter that works here, and he's super cute."_ _Super cute_ and _not-unattractive_ can mean the same thing, right? And all these people are staring, so Jiwoo's probably the reason why this café's so popular.

This prompts her to re-examine the male in front of her. There's nothing _that_ special about him.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" Jiwoo asks, sitting in the chair across from her.

"Thank you for the pancakes, uh, Jiwoo," Heejung says, "but shouldn't you be working?"

"I'm sure the boss wouldn't mind," Jiwoo says as he glances over to the register, where one of the other workers glares at him.

With those words, Heejung adds _slacker_—and underlines it for good measure—to her mental list of Jiwoo's traits.

Heejung finds herself wondering, not for the first time (and probably not the last), how one guy could make a café popular. He's not even that special, disregarding his looks (which pale in comparison to a model's): all Heejung's gathered from this short conversation is that Jiwoo is more than a bit pushy.


	3. Fifteen Faces of a Maiden's Heart

When Heejung bumps into Jiwoo a second time, surprisingly, it isn't at the café. Heejung sees him at her favorite bookshop without girls ogling over his looks. She almost doesn't recognize who he is at first since he's out of uniform (which includes those oddly-fitting bunny ears). It doesn't help that Jiwoo's wearing a semi-fancy lilac button-up, and he's got _glasses_. The glasses don't make Jiwoo any less attractive, not that Heejung'd ever admit he's attractive in the first place, but they give him more of a scholarly aura.

Jiwoo has his nose stuck in a book, eyes intensely flitting over the page. He's doing another thing that annoys Heejung: reading the book in the store so as to not buy it. Although she's a bit peeved, Heejung cranes her neck to take a look at the cover of Jiwoo's book.

She almost blanches at the sight of the cover. Garish hearts decorate the cover in a variety of vomit-inducing colors. There's no doubt that Jiwoo's reading a terribly-written romance novel. Heejung takes another peek, feeling a bit like a creep for doing so, and finds that she recognizes the book. It's become a sensation lately among her classmates, just like Jiwoo and his café: _Fifteen Faces of a Maiden's Heart_, written by an anonymous author, is regarded as the best romance novel of the century. Personally, Heejung thinks the title was created by stringing random words together (though there are fanatics that claim otherwise) and what little of it that she read was disgusting.

Heejung has to take another look at the cover of Jiwoo's book to make sure she saw it right. It doesn't change. Heejung finds herself grimacing at Jiwoo's choice in books. Of all the romance novels, he had to choose _Fifteen Faces of a Maiden's Heart_. And he's so focused in reading it, as if the book is actually worthy of his attention.

"Are you just going to stand there and shake your head?"

Heejung's reaction is not a pleasant one. She drops the book in her hands (and she cringes when she sees the pages are now bent) and manages to trip over nothing and fall.

Jiwoo's attention remains mostly on his book, but he does reach out a hand for Heejung and add a comment: "You're so clumsy."

"Because you startled me," Heejung says, accepting his hand.

It's much, much softer than she expects it to be. Heejung's actually envious of how smooth Jiwoo's hands are, and then she blushes for even thinking such a thing.

"Why are you blushing?"

Jiwoo's face is close to hers, too close. Heejung can feel his light breaths on her face, the scent of coffee tickling her nose. His open book is also pressed right against her chest, and when she looks away from his bright green eyes, she catches a glimpse of what he's reading.

_"I find myself drawn to his lips. They're perfect. The way he bites them is so, so frustrating when we're in public because I can't kiss him then. But we're alone now. There's no one to see the sin we're committing by disregarding our soul mates and choosing each other._

_"We kiss, and my heart beats so quickly, I'm afraid it's going to fly away. I grip the lapels of his jacket, feeling as if I'm melting._

_"'You're mine,' he growls, and I find myself agreeing. Forever and always, I'll be his—"_

Heejung diverts her eyes elsewhere, trying to erase all of what she just read. It's hard to keep the grimace off her face, but she manages it somehow. When she ends up meeting Jiwoo's eyes, Heejung's surprised to see him smirking.

"Is this a guilty pleasure of yours?" he asks, gently shaking the book in her face.

Heejung flushes, feeling uncomfortable under Jiwoo's gaze. It's embarrassing that a complete stranger like Jiwoo would accuse her of such a thing. Heejung rarely has time to read romance novels, much less a badly-written like _Fifteen Faces of a Maiden's Heart_, for them to even be a guilty pleasure.

Misinterpreting her silence, Jiwoo lets out a soft, triumphant "Aha, I knew it."

Instead of making fun of her, Jiwoo smiles. It makes Heejung feel like she's melting, having that smile directed at her. She immediately waves away that thought because it reminds her too much of the passages she'd accidentally read. What she's feeling right now is probably just a weird side effect of the realization that Jiwoo probably doesn't smile a lot, especially not like this.

"You should drop by the café again sometime," Jiwoo adds. "I missed seeing you there yesterday."

Jiwoo winks at her and leaves before Heejung can even respond, but she sees him buying the book. At least he has the decency to support authors of books he likes, even if they're bad ones like _Fifteen Faces of a Maiden's Heart._

Heejung picks her book back off the floor, frowning at the creases in the pages. She waits until Jiwoo's already left the store and then a bit longer to be sure before she approaches the cash register.

One thought haunts Heejung as she goes home, and what really bothers her is that it's about Jiwoo. She's spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about how he could miss her if he's only met her once.

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**A/N:** Thanks for reviewing, **QRed**, **CriticalFeral**, and **Inkwell Lynx**. I apologize for the: OOC, lateness, lame romance. But hey, slightly longer chapter, yeah? As for the novel that's mentioned way too many times this chapter: it's not real but it's based off a real book, and I'm guilty of stringing random words together to come up with the title.


	4. No Ulterior Motives

_It's not because he said he missed me._

Heejung's in The Bunny Café again, and it's _not_ because Jiwoo said he missed her. Heejung's friends from art class dragged her to The Bunny Café to see Jiwoo. It wasn't like Heejung wanted to see Jiwoo though. She just tagged along because—_"I missed seeing you there yesterday."_

"Hee_jung_," one of her friends calls. "Are you paying attention?"

It's not like Jiwoo meant anything by those words, right? He seems like the type to throw out flirtatious phrases to anyone. If Jiwoo had met someone else from the café in the bookstore, he would've said something similar. His words weren't specific to her. Right? Right, you can't miss someone you've only met once.

"Are you...nodding to yourself? Heejung? _Heejung!_"

When Heejung thinks about it more though, her heart...area hurts. (It's not heartache, though. She wouldn't experience heartache just because Jiwoo didn't mean what he said. Heartache's pointless, especially over something so trivial. Maybe the coffee's too hot, and it burned its way down her throat while she was distracted.) It doesn't matter if Jiwoo's smiling and laughing while talking with other girls, like he is right now with Heejung's friends.

"Heejung, Jiwoo's asking if you want your coffee refilled!"

Jiwoo's probably naturally—

"It's polite to respond when other people are talking to you," a deeper voice whispers into her ear, warm breaths tickling her neck. Heejung violently snaps out of her thoughts, noticing the proximity of Jiwoo's lips: close enough that they _almost_ brushed against her ear when he spoke. "You look pretty when you blush."

Heejung moves away from Jiwoo as fast as possible, entirely aware of the hotness in her cheeks and Jiwoo's every move. The girls around her either squealing with delight or glaring enviously at her. In all the commotion, Jiwoo winks at Heejung (provoking louder squeals and fiercer glares) and refills her coffee ("it's on the house").

The squealing girls form a circle around Heejung, talking a mile a minute. Heejung sits there, trying to ignore how fast her heart is beating, as most of her friends yell excitedly at her. After a while, Heejung learns a few things: 1) obsessed people can talk for extraordinarily long times, 2) Jiwoo looked _super_ attractive today (an argument over whether or not it was his new haircut or his more-flirty actions lasted half an hour), 3) Heejung should feel incredibly lucky that she got within touching distance of Jiwoo (Heejung feels less lucky when it means a couple of her friends are trying to kill her with their eyes and when, she admits a little reluctantly, it means she didn't get to see Jiwoo that clearly), and 4) she needs more friends that won't freak out over Jiwoo.

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It's actually pretty late now—later than usual for Heejung. Heejung tells herself over and over again it's not because she wants one more glimpse of Jiwoo. If she wanted that, she could've waited till Jiwoo's next shift (not that she asked one of the other girls for Jiwoo's work hours). The air's much more chilly outside the café, and as Heejung waits under a streetlamp, she runs her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm herself up.

"Heejung?"

Jiwoo's voice is softer, his tone surprised. It's obvious to Heejung, even though she hasn't known him long, that Jiwoo when he's working and Jiwoo when he's not working are different (but both make her heart speed up...or maybe it's just the cold). When he works, Jiwoo's got those ridiculous (yet somehow fitting) spotted bunny ears. He smiles a lot and flirts a lot, insincerity lacing his every word and gesture. When he's free, Jiwoo seems more open and less unapproachable (and the glasses make him look more sophisticated).

That might be why Heejung visited the café today, Jiwoo's words on repeat all throughout her classes. _"I missed seeing you,"_ he said, as if he cared about whether Heejung showed up or not. He said it so simply, too, like those were his honest thoughts and all he wanted was for Heejung to know.

Warm hands grasp Heejung's cold ones, and with one fluid movement, Jiwoo hugs Heejung to his chest. Heejung _does not_ lean into it, and she _does not_ blush, no matter how much Jiwoo insists she does. Jiwoo's really warm compared to Heejung, and she can feel his heartbeat, how its beating gets faster as she settles against his chest. Jiwoo's arms are wrapped around her waist, and Heejung's pretty sure he can feel her heartbeat, too. His lips, which are velvety soft, brush against her neck when he speaks.

"You must've waited for a while," he says, voice deep.

Heejung can feel Jiwoo's chest rumbling and the feather-light touches of his lips against her neck. In her mental list, Heejung crosses out the idea that Jiwoo is less suave when he's not putting on a happy face for work. He's much more distracting, especially when Heejung can delude herself into thinking that Jiwoo actually means what he says and does.

"Let me walk you home," Jiwoo suggests, letting go of Heejung. He's smiling at her, and Heejung notices the unsureness in his actions.

That's why Heejung agrees. There's no ulterior motive, such as wanting to spend more time with Jiwoo. She knows what it's like to present an idea to someone whose opinion she cares about, to have her self-confidence crushed with a one-word answer. As much as Heejung dislikes slackers, it's hard to ignore Jiwoo's slightly wavering smile and the boyish innocence in his eyes.

Heejung leads the way to her apartment, (_not_) flushing a little when Jiwoo grabs one of her hands. He swings their clasped hands, smiling a bit. Heejung bites down on the smile forming on her own face and avoids thinking about how much warmer she feels with Jiwoo around. She's so distracted, she doesn't realize that Jiwoo isn't following her lead but stepping in tune with her (and maybe a little faster).

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**A/N:** Definition of Serpentine: super-long breaks, very short chapters, no proofreading. Thank you to everyone who favorited/followed and to **QRed** (again), **xKunoichixAngelx**, and **Guest** for reviewing.


	5. That Notebook Guy

That night, Heejung's dream isn't the usual one. Actually, it's more like her dream's the same except for the mysterious man starring in it: instead of the usual featureless man, hidden in the shadows, it's Jiwoo. This time, Heejung remembers her dream in bright, vivid colors, and she can see every detail of Jiwoo's face as his dream-self smiles shyly at her. When Heejung closes her eyes, she can perfectly visualize the delicate curve of his mouth, the line of his nose, the long lashes that emphasize his startling green eyes, and the sharp cut of his face.

But then, Heejung recalls something from her dream that startles her so much, she almost throws herself off the bed. Jiwoo was holding something in his hands, specifically, a brown notebook. Heejung thinks about the notebook's owner, how much his sweet words had touched her, and feels disgusted with herself. He's out there, searching for her, but here she is, dreaming about Jiwoo.

Heejung scrambles out of bed and reaches for the notebook. She slouches against the wall, cradling the now-worn pages. She reads page after page, waves of emotion washing over her. When Heejung tries to conjure an image of the mysterious man, all she can think of is Jiwoo. And Heejung hates herself for projecting Jiwoo onto the sweet guy who poured out his entire heart into these pages for her because it's not fair to him.

It's been a while since Heejung had decided to look for the man, but after so long, she's doubting they'll ever find each other. How is she supposed to recognize him anyway? He'll know her, but what if she's changed so much since they last saw each other that even he doesn't recognize her? These thoughts swirl around in her mind, and Heejung's shoulders start shaking as she frantically wipes at tears rolling down her cheeks because _what if they've already passed by each other, what if they missed each other, what if he's looking for her everywhere but he's already gone through Seoul and isn't coming back?_

Heejung feels even worse when she realizes it's almost noon and she's just spent most of the morning crying over what-ifs because this is the first time in a couple weeks that she's thought about the guy behind the notebook. Ever since she met Jiwoo, he's occupied her thoughts more often. Jiwoo's been a constant weight on her mind, which, again, isn't fair at all. At the very least, even if they do never meet, she has to honor the fairytale-esque man's memory. She can't be dreaming about Jiwoo's admittedly handsome features when someone's out there, using up all of his effort to find her.

Carefully placing the notebook back, Heejung hobbles to the bathroom. As she stares at her haggard reflection in the mirror, Heejung makes one promise to herself: to never visit The Bunny Café again.

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**A/N:** Sorry for the short chapter, but I thought this was a pretty good place to end it. And I just realized I messed up so bad 'cause I forgot some details 'bout Jiwoo's ending since it's been, like, 5 months since I watched it...Anywayyy, thanks to **QRed**, **TheFault-inOurMinds**, **Guestie**, and **jxngin** for reviewing, all the people who've followed/favorited, and anyone who's still reading after so long. Good luck to all AP testers out there!


	6. A Late Night Visit

**A/N:** It's been almost a year...but if anyone's out there still reading this, I'd like them to be able to read a complete story. Also, thank you to **xKunoichixAngelx**, **Whovain101**, and the two **Guests** for reviewing. (Please forgive any discontinuity or characterization errors 'cause even though I've refreshed myself on the story, I have a terrible memory.)

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Heejung hasn't been to The Bunny Café in a month. She hasn't thought about Jiwoo...in less than a minute. Even though Heejung hasn't seen Jiwoo in person since he walked her home that one night, it feels like he's always with her. Jiwoo's presence has permeated her life so completely that Heejung often finds herself drifting off and wondering what Jiwoo's doing.

Every time that happens, Heejung shakes her head wildly, as if that'll get rid of her unwanted thoughts. Then, she takes deep breaths, calming herself. _Think about the guy with the notebook_, she tells herself. _It's not fair to him_. Heejung always has to stop herself from wondering if it's fair to herself, to keep waiting for a guy who might never show up. That line of thinking only leads to a thousand dismal thoughts swirling in her head, making her heart ache and eyes water.

Tonight is one of Heejung's lonelier nights. Earlier in the day, Heejung's friends had gone off to visit The Bunny Café, leaving her in the art studio, accompanied only by her loud thoughts. That moment stayed with Heejung all the way until now, when she's curled up in bed, willing herself to go to sleep. _It_ _doesn't matter,_ Heejung chants to herself. _Jiwoo doesn't matter._

Eventually, Heejung's lulled to sleep, still in the midst of muttering, "He doesn't matter", when a sharp knock on her door startles her. Face immediately scrunching up, Heejung stumbles out of bed. The knock comes again, louder and more insistent. Heejung sleepily calls, "I'm coming!" as she staggers over to the door. When she flings open the door and blinks up at her uninvited guest, she slams the door in his face.

Or she would've, had her guest not stuck his foot in between the doorframe and the door so that the door bounced off his foot and remained open. Heejung notes with a little wonder on how he didn't flinch at all until her eyes met his.

As if shocked, he hunches his shoulders and withdraws his foot, although he brings a hand up to prevent Heejung from trying to close the door again.

"What do you want, Jiwoo?" Heejung asks as aggressively as she can.

"An explanation," he says, voice soft and eyes drifting.

"For what?" Heejung asks again, determined to keep up her unwelcoming demeanor.

"Why you're ignoring me," Jiwoo responds, not meeting Heejung's eyes. He blushes lightly and continues: "I thought we were getting along well."

Heejung can't meet Jiwoo's eyes either as she says, "Who says I've been avoiding you? You're being too full of yourself."

Jiwoo lifts his eyes to meet Heejung's, and she can see the earnestness shining in his beautiful green eyes. It's hard to continue being cold toward Jiwoo when it looks like he's pouring his heart out to her, especially when he asks, "Is that what you don't like about me?"

His voice is so soft and sad that Heejung tells him honestly, "No, it's not you. I've just been thinking."

"About what? What's so important that you haven't wanted to see me in a month?"

A breeze drifts through, making Heejung shiver and reminding her that they're talking outside of her apartment. She debates with herself for a moment, vaguely noticing how her silence is making Jiwoo fidgety, and decides to invite him in since it looks like they're in for a long conversation. Heejung lets go of the door and steps out of Jiwoo's way, gesturing for him to come inside.

Jiwoo's expression relaxes, and the corners of his mouth are tilted upwards. Heejung catches herself before she starts thinking something along the lines of _I wish I could make him always smile like that_ and turns to close and lock the door. When she turns around, Jiwoo's already taken off his shoes and he's standing there a bit awkwardly, looking around like an excited child.

Heejung steers him toward the couch, and he quickly makes himself comfortable, sighing happily. A slight niggling feeling bothers Heejung as she looks at Jiwoo relaxing on her couch. Something about the scene is oddly familiar, and the way in which Jiwoo seems to fit perfectly in her home is a bit...not unsettling exactly, but not completely comforting either.

Jiwoo looks up at Heejung, propping his feet up on the coffee table and reaching his hand out as if he's trying to grab the remote.

"Feet off," Heejung scolds, briskly walking over to slap Jiwoo's legs off her table. "Hasn't anyone taught you any manners?"

Jiwoo's smile turns a little wistful as he says, "Yes, actually, but they're not here to make me be polite." His grin borders on impertinent when he adds: "You'll have to reteach me manners."

Heejung scoffs as she seats herself on the couch, and her slight annoyance increases even more when Jiwoo continues speaking: "But I guess you're not the greatest teacher, seeing as you don't have any manners."

"What was that?" she growls, crossing her arms to be more menacing.

"You haven't even offered me any snacks or drinks yet," Jiwoo says, mocking laughter clear in his voice.

"It's late though," Heejung insists.

"Oh, so your manners disappear when it's late. Then, why are you griping about my manners this late?" Jiwoo asks teasingly.

Heejung's face colors slightly as she stomps toward her kitchen and starts pulling out ingredients to make food with. As she fiddles with pots and pans, Heejung thinks back to Jiwoo's question that she still hasn't answered. She wonders how Jiwoo will react to her story about the guy who left the notebook, what he thinks she should do. Selfishly, Heejung hopes Jiwoo has an answer to her dilemma so she won't have to come up with one herself.


	7. Revelations

When Heejung emerges with a bowl containing a (in her own opinion) wonderful variety of curry, uncut tomatoes, strips of pasta as decoration, and rice, Jiwoo's face does this mix between crumpling in despair and lighting up in...recognition?

Heejung sets the bowl down triumphantly in front of Jiwoo and shoves a spoon into the mixture. "How's that for hospitality?"

Jiwoo's expression finally settles on mild condescension. "You want me to eat _that_?"

"Hey!" Heejung yells. "I spent a lot of effort I didn't need to in order to make that for you."

Oddly, Heejung's words seem to make Jiwoo slump his shoulders in resignation and pick up the spoon. The first bite makes his face twist in this way that makes Heejung think he's trying to be polite and not shudder in disgust. She looks at the food he's eating and how it seems to ooze unpleasantness. It makes her cringe more than just a little when Jiwoo takes a gigantic bite again.

"Jiwoo, you don't have to eat it if you don't want to," Heejung says despite the injury to her pride.

Jiwoo's speech is muffled, but Heejung figures he's saying something like "But you made it."

Heejung rolls her eyes, trying to ignore the blush creeping up her cheeks. To distract herself from the way Jiwoo's comment made her heart flutter a little, Heejung says, "So, we were talking earlier about why I was ignoring you."

Jiwoo's expression turns serious although his words are still light-hearted: "Now you admit to ignoring me?"

"Yes," Heejung answers, hating how the mood is dropping so fast. A fierce desire to see Jiwoo smile some more and joke around with him more grips Heejung's heart. "And I do have a reason why, but I'm not sure if you'll accept it. I'll start from the beginning, if you're up to it. It'll take a while."

"I have all night," Jiwoo answers, finally setting his spoon down and turning to face her completely.

"Okay. Uh, where to start..." Heejung hesitates, looking away from Jiwoo's intense stare. "Well, I've sort of lost my memories. I know I've been living here since I started college because some of my friends told me, but I'm not sure where I'm originally from. I don't know who or where my parents are either because neither of them has tried to contact me. I'm okay with that though."

Jiwoo shoots her an unimpressed look, which makes Heejung admit "Okay, honestly, I'm not okay with that. It makes me feel lonely sometimes and wonder what I did to alienate them, or if I even did anything. Sorry, I'm kind of rambling and telling you too much, but it feels good to finally tell someone about my feelings. I couldn't really tell Heejae—that's one of my friends—because well, I don't think he'd understand? I feel like you would for some reason."

Heejung tries to stop her face from heating up even more, but her efforts are futile.

"Whatever. That's not the point. It's just...that's how my life was—is. I didn't—still don't, honestly—know much about myself until Heejae was helping me clean out my apartment and I found this brown notebook." At this point, Heejung's staring down at her lap and the words are tumbling out of her mouth. "I...I just started reading it, and it wasn't mine. It was some guy's. Apparently, I'd known him before I lost my memories, and it told this fantastical story about wizards and hybrid boys living in my house, competing for my love in a game to fulfill their own wishes. And so, this guy won my affections and the game, but by then, he had actually fallen in love with me, too. His wish was to return to his homeland though, but he vowed to come back and find me.

"This is all relevant to why I've been avoiding you because...he just sounds so sincere in his journal. I've been developing a crush on you, I guess you could say, but I feel like that's unfair to that guy. He's been trying—well, he's still trying—so hard to look for me, so I can't just ignore his determination, can I? I didn't really know what to do, so I freaked out and maybe overreacted."

Heejung's too afraid to look at Jiwoo, to see his reaction to what, admittedly, sounds ridiculous now that she's saying it out loud. She feels a soft warm hand on top of hers, the touch of it comforting and familiar.

"It's okay, Heejung," Jiwoo whispers. It sounds like his voice is choked with emotion yet so, so understanding, but an irrational fear of seeing Jiwoo's dismissiveness toward her situation prevents her from actually looking up at him.

Instead, Jiwoo has to gently grasp her chin and lift her head up. It confuses her to see, through the tears blurring her vision, that Jiwoo's also crying a little.

"W-Why are you crying, too?" Heejung asks, hating how she stammers a little.

"Because it's so dumb"—immediately, Heejung's heart feels like it's being strangled and coldness spreads throughout her chest until—"and yet it's so you. It's part of why I love you so much."

Now, Heejung's heart feels like it's being strangled in a different way. Jiwoo can't _love_ her, not after what she just told him, because as she's been trying to say, she _can't_ love him back. "Jiwoo, you can't..."

"Yes, Heejung, I can," Jiwoo insists, which just makes Heejung cry harder. He doesn't understand at all. "Because I'm your 'notebook guy.'"


	8. Finale

At first, Jiwoo's words don't register in Heejung's mind but when they do, she freezes. _It doesn't make sense_ is her first reaction, quickly followed by _Wait, it does_. The familiarity with which Jiwoo's regarded her suddenly makes much more sense, as does the ease he's had in worming his way into her new life.

Still: "You're...you're the notebook guy?"

"Yeah, don't you see why this is so dumb?" Jiwoo exclaims, both laughter and sobbing making his voice wobble.

"I don't believe it," Heejung murmurs. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Jiwoo flushes a little, flailing a bit, and Heejung admires how pretty the redness of his face looks, contrasting with his green eyes. "I wanted to woo you naturally, since it looked like you didn't remember me."

"At the café, _that_ was your way of wooing me?" Heejung asks a little incredulously, letting herself laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Yeah, I mean...Hey, stop laughing!" Jiwoo yelps, removing his hand from Heejung's to curl his hands into fists. "I'll have you know, a lot of female customers would've done anything to have been in your place."

"I know that pretty well," Heejung says, still laughing. "My friends all like to go see you."

"And that's part of what makes you special," Jiwoo mutters, hands now fidgeting with the hem of his t-shirt. "I have to work to get you to pay attention to me and to like me."

Heejung, who was about to say something, closes her mouth, willing her blush to disappear. What is she supposed to say to that?

"Hey, Heejung."

"Mhm?" she responds, not really looking at him.

"Look at me."

When Heejung looks up, Jiwoo's face is so close and his expression looks so tender. One of his hands is cupping the side of her face and wiping away residual tears.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asks, still staring at her with so much love, and really, what is she supposed to say to that? "Please say yes."

"F-fine, if you really want me to that much," Heejung stammers. "Yes, I'll be your girlfriend."

The happiness in his captivating green eyes is so entrancing, Heejung finds herself lost in their depths. She doesn't even realize how the distance between their faces is virtually nonexistent until she feels the hotness of his breath on her face.

"Can I kiss you?" he asks, and his lips almost brush hers with each syllable.

"Sure," she whispers back.

Their lips finally meet, albeit mostly chastely, and Heejung thinks she can get used to the feeling of his soft, soft lips against hers. The reverence with which Jiwoo says her name, coupled with the gentleness of his hands on her face, are also things she can get used to. Her heart almost beats itself out of her chest with excitement when she realizes that she has the time to get used to these things about Jiwoo because he's her boyfriend now.

* * *

**A/N:** Annddd that's about it. Thanks for being so patient, if you've been here from the start, and thanks for reading up to here, if you just got here recently. (There might be some mistakes, as this isn't proofread, so just point them out if/when you see any.)


End file.
